THE APOCALYPSE TROLL

New science fiction shoot-’em-up from the author of Echoes of Honor (p. 1076), etc. By the 25th century, humanity is finally winning its long war with the xenophobic Kangas. But then a human Battle Division intercepts a Kanga fleet traveling backwards in time, clearly intending to destroy Earth in the past! After a terrible struggle, only two ships survive to reach the year 2007: one contains a Troll(a Kanga cyborg with an enslaved, insane human brain)and BatDiv’s Colonel Ludmilla “Milla” Leonovna, whom the Troll thinks it’s killed. Lone sailor and US Navy Captain Richard Aston witnesses a battle involving nukes and UFOs high above the Atlantic, and he rescues what appears to be a dying Milla from her stricken ship. But Milla heals rapidly—though she looks like a girl, she’s actually immortal, thanks to the symbiont, deadly to nearly everyone else, in her blood—all of which she soon explains. Aston believes her story and sails into the US Navy base at Holy Loch, Scotland. But is there anyone else they should consult? Problem: the Troll is telepathic and can listen in on susceptible people. So, Aston and Milla must select their allies very carefully. Meanwhile, the Troll, having decided to enslave humanity, heads for the States to recruit an army of zombie slaves. A grim fight ensues; finally the Troll is killed and its ship captured, but Aston is mortally wounded, leading Milla to give him a blood transfusion; luckily, he survives, in the process becoming immortal too! Now humanity will have time to study the Troll ship and prepare for the Kanga invasion that, in Milla’s home universe, started the whole business. Moves along at a good clip, with lots of simple explanations, spiffy hardware, military acronyms, and whiz-bangs. Perhaps its teenaged target audience won’t care about Weber’s wretched attempts to compose female characters.